My buddies and I went to Lijiang, Dali, Kunming and Xishuangbanna in Yunnan some time ago. The following share their own experience during the travel process as well as blood and tears lessons, hope to help the same like travel partners.
Overall
These places in Yunnan are relatively decentralized. Lijiang is in the northwest, Dali is west of Kunming, and Xishuangbanna is in the far south. Kunming has the most flights, and you will usually choose to go to Kunming first as a transit before going to other cities. Considering that Kunming and Lijiang are not close to each other, we chose to fly directly to Lijiang and then to Dali. Since there is no direct high speed train from Dali to Xishuangbanna, we will first go to Kunming as a transit, and then finally go to Xishuangbanna.
Yunnan ultraviolet rays are very strong, be sure to bring sunscreen! After the tour, I found that the locals are obviously a little darker in color.
1. Lijiang
Lijiang tour attractions include: Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Lugu Lake, Lijiang Old Town.
Recommended time: 2~3 days.
Accommodation:
Accommodation can be stayed near the ancient city. The ancient city is relatively large, we stayed in the Checa Hotel outside the north gate of the ancient city. It is recommended to choose the accommodation on the edge of the ancient city can be, not too close to the inside of the ancient city. Because from the inside out is not a short distance. And most one-day tours will go to the hotel near the ancient city to pick up and drop off.
Transportation:
The train station is very close to the ancient city, you can take a taxi or bus.
There is an airport bus from the airport to Lijiang ancient city, which is very convenient, 30 minutes away, 20 yuan per person. I was there at 10:30 pm, and there is still a bus, you can do it right out of the airport. So there was no need to take a taxi.
Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is about an hour or so drive from Lijiang.
Lugu Lake is more than 180km away from Lijiang by mountain road, very far, at least 4 hours drive.
Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and Lugu Lake are far away from the city, so you have to go there by chartering a car or driving yourself, etc.
Diet:
I checked online tips before and recommended to eat granny's wax pork ribs. You can just search online for the specific store. Personally, I feel that it is too salty to eat. Doubt if it is really marinated ribs.
Scenic Spot:
Lijiang Old Town can go to skate at night, because live in the ancient city near, you can walk to the night. Eat, drink and stroll around the old city on the way inside.
Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and Lugu Lake we are enrolled in a day tour. We were picked up from our hotel in the old city in the morning and then sent back to our hotel in the evening. Tickets, transportation and lunch are included.
While we were on a one-day tour, I think it would be better to take a chartered car or self-drive. If you are not confident in mountain driving skills, you can charter a car. Just to solve the transportation can be, so that in the scenic area can be free to play, and no tour group shopping consumption and other worries.
Blue Moon Valley in the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain scenic area inside, you can go down from the snow mountain to visit, the lake is very beautiful and blue.
Other suggestions:
Go to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, if necessary, buy oxygen bottles in the city in advance. Otherwise, the scenic area is 60 yuan/bottle, which is very expensive.
Jade Dragon Snow Mountain tickets and ropeways are more expensive, the upper mountain ropeway needs to be booked in advance of the time slot, queuing up a lot of people. We were on the mountain cableway queue for an hour, down the mountain cableway queue for 40 minutes. Think about it really waste of time!
Lugu Lake's mountain road is really very winding. The Lugu Lake mountain road is really winding, so be careful if you are carsick or not driving well enough!
Battery car in the Blue Moon Valley personally do not feel the need to sit. You can directly take the scenic area inside the bus to reach the Blue Moon Valley, no need to take the battery car.
2. Dali
There are many attractions in Dali, we went to the following places: the old town of Dali, around the Erhai Sea, Shuanglang Ancient Town on the east side of the Erhai Sea, the Three Pagodas Temple.
In addition, Cangshan Mountain is also good, but we were too lazy to climb the mountain so we did not go.
Recommended time: > 2 days.
Accommodation:
There are three kinds of suggestions on the internet: near Shuanglang Ancient Town on the east side of the Erhai Sea, near Dali Ancient Town on the west side of the Erhai Sea, and near the Railway Station on the south side of the Erhai Sea (downtown).
There is no need to be near the train station because it is too far from the attractions. The only advantage of staying near the train station is that in the downtown area, you can choose a relatively clean and upscale big hotel with relatively good hygiene. While the other two places can only live in B&B inns, and due to the scenic area near the slightly poorer health.
Shuanglang ancient town near the choice is not recommended, because the Erhai west line scenic area is relatively more, live in the east of Shuanglang ancient town from the ancient city, the three towers of the temple, Cangshan Mountain and so on a little far.
Personally, I recommend staying in Dali Old Town, and choose the south gate of Dali Old Town near.
Transportation:
When you go to Dali, you definitely need to circumnavigate the Erhai Sea. There are generally the following ways to circumnavigate Erhai: rental car, bus, small electric donkey.
The small electric donkey is not recommended. The first is too sunny, the second is too slow.
The advantage of renting a car is freedom, the disadvantage is that the parking fee is not low.
We took a tour bus. Recently, Dali has a new tour bus around the Erhai Sea with buses between various scenic spots, which is very convenient. We bought the three-day unlimited tour bus through at 98 yuan per seat. Three days, unlimited rides on the bus. The bus has stops at various scenic spots around the Erhai, so just make a reservation in advance and take the bus according to the time. In addition, the bus also includes shuttles from the south gate of the ancient city to the airport, the train station, and the Three Pagodas Temple, as well as tickets for the battery cars inside each scenic spot. Therefore, just buy that unlimited bus ticket. All transportation problems in Dali will be solved.
Tearful advice: don't take the scenic area's battery car to go around the Erhai Sea! We have been pitched! Blood tears lesson! I hope no one else will be pitched!
Scenic spots:
The attractions around the Erhai Sea do not have tickets, and you can play directly.
Shuanglang Ancient Town is quite large inside, there is a small island, there is time to take a cruise up to see.
Dali ancient city during the day there are not many people, the night can be lively until 12 o'clock. So it is recommended to play at night.
The Three Pagodas Temple is less than 3 kilometers away from the old town. The Three Pagodas Temple is worth a visit. From the south gate to the far north to walk almost 1 hour, and there are most bits of steps and climbing. You can choose whether to take the internal battery car or not, depending on your stamina. However, the tram takes passengers straight to the very back of the temple (i.e., the northernmost part), and you can't explore the beauty of the center.
Bloody advice: it is recommended to buy tickets for the Three Pagodas Temple online! I bought 75 RMB/person on site and my companion bought 45 RMB/person online. For that difference, it was really exasperating.
Diet:
Dali has a lot of snacks that are very tasty. There are roasted milk fan, roasted bait block, rolled noodles, shrimp noodles and so on. Roasted milk fan and roasted bait block are especially delicious and highly recommended! Dali ancient city has a lot of snack stores, I do not recommend specific stores
We ate the old white stone barbecue, wild mushrooms hot pot, Dai hand grabbed rice.
Slate barbecue is not recommended, this barbecue and other places of no difference, and in the scenic area is the existence of a bad street.
Wild mushroom hot pot is recommended to taste, mainly to taste a variety of mushrooms, drink mushroom soup, very delicious.
Dai hand grabbed rice is highly recommended, must remember to observe how others eat, use gloves to grab and eat oh! Don't eat with chopsticks like us.
Summary:
Dali Erhai is very beautiful, snacks are very delicious, there are many attractions. Feeling that Dali is more suitable for living, a few days in a hurry can not appreciate the coziness of the place.
3. Kunming
Kunming we only went to the Ridge Park and Yongdao Street. Kunming has a lot of fun places, due to time did not go. Therefore, the following is only a brief introduction.
Kunming is the capital city of the province, accommodation and transportation are very convenient, do not need me to introduce you.
The snacks on Yongdao Street are very delicious, and we recommend eating bait, bean flower rice noodles, and Longjing soup dumplings.
The transportation in Ridge Park is not very convenient, there is no direct subway, the last part of the journey may need a taxi.
4. Xishuangbanna
The main attractions in Xishuangbanna are: the Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Wild Elephant Valley, the Tropical Primitive Forest, the Mang Listening Park, the night market in Guezhuang, and the Lancang River.
Recommended time: > 4 days.
Accommodation:
It is recommended to stay near Gouzhuang, you can choose either B&B or big hotels. Xishuangbanna is not very big. If you choose to live in the city can also be, after all, the city is less than 5 kilometers away from Guizhuang. However, there are buses to various attractions at the north gate of Guizhuang, so it is more convenient to stay in Guizhuang if you take the bus. In addition, downtown taxi and eat is not very convenient.
Transportation:
Highly recommended <Banna good line> public number. Public number above the different scenic spots tickets, scenic buses, etc., there are packages and single sale, very convenient! Scenic area buses depart from the north gate of Zhuozhuang, divided into several shifts to different attractions.
We bought a package ticket for the CAS Botanical Garden, Wild Elephant Valley and Primitive Forest Park, which includes transportation + tickets + explanation. Remember to buy and book the time slots in advance, it's very popular!
The CAS Botanical Garden is over an hour's drive from downtown, Wild Elephant Valley is about half an hour's drive from downtown, and the Primitive Forest Park is about 5 kilometers from downtown. The Mangyong Park is just inside the downtown area.
Scenic spots:
The Chinese Academy of Sciences Botanical Garden is highly recommended! The park is huge, make sure you buy a battery car tour. The west area has a variety of strange tropical plants, follow the guide's explanation can recognize a lot of plants, see a lot of wonderful phenomena. The east area is a pure natural primitive forest, there are a lot of primitive plants and animals, you may encounter snakes, caterpillars and other wild animals on the way to visit. There are some mountain trails in the East Zone. Most tourists only visit the West Zone. If you have enough time, it is recommended to visit the East Zone as well. Both parts of the park require electric carts.
Wild Elephant Valley is mainly for watching elephants. The butterfly garden inside is also very nice with leaf butterflies disguised as leaves. From the entrance to the elephant viewing platform there are 2 kilometers of mountain road, walking needs at least 40 minutes, according to the physical strength to choose whether to take the cable car. Whether you can see wild elephants out depends on your luck.
The Tropical Primitive Forest is to see peacocks. It is recommended to go inside the peacock lodge for lunch. Lunch is not very expensive, but there are near the lake eating position, you can eat while watching the peacock show, flocks of peacocks fly past you. In addition, there are events such as minority song and dance performances and the Dai Water Splashing Festival.
Manjung Park is inside the city, which has a nice Thai-style temple in addition to the Dai King's palace. Also, if you have time try to attend the evening dinner event.
The night market in Guezhuang is very busy and lively, and there are especially many people taking travel photos. It's called the "Rokguk Water Night Market" and is a must-see in the evening.
Diet:
We tasted the Dai glutinous rice, Southeast Asian restaurants, local barbecue, etc., all very good. In addition, you can also eat a lot of durian, small pineapple and other tropical fruits.
The very famous Thai iced coffee here can be tasted. Personally, I feel it is the flavor of Nescafe with ice.
Other:
During the day, it is very difficult to take a taxi, there are few cabs, and the drops are very bad.
Fewer places to eat downtown.
Xishuangbanna belongs to the border crossing, remember to do nucleic acid before you go (should not be needed now).